DSC supports the USFWS proposed additions and revisions to station-specific regulations that would expand hunting and fishing opportunities on National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) and National Fish Hatcheries (NFH). This proposal expands access to an additional 2.3 million acres of public land, supports the sustainable use of migratory birds and resident wildlife, and generates billions of dollars annually for state fish and wildlife agencies as well as regional economies.
The USFWS has proposed the following:
- Open, for the first time, eight NWRs that are currently closed to hunting and sport fishing.
- Open or expand hunting and sport fishing at 89 other NWRs.
- Add pertinent station-specific regulations for other NWRs that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing for the 2020–2021 season.
- Open hunting or sport fishing on nine units of the NFHs.
- Add pertinent station-specific regulations for NFHs that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing for the 2020–2021 season.
- Open 41 limited-interest easement NWRs in North Dakota for upland hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing.
- Make regulatory changes to existing station-specific regulations in order to reduce the regulatory burden on the public, increase access for hunters and anglers on Service lands and waters, and comply with a Presidential mandate for plain language standards.
- Prohibit domestic sheep, goat, and camelid pack animals on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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